The medical charity LIVES, based in Lincolnshire, has been accused of creating a “toxic environment” by 26 staff and volunteers, both former and current, who claim there is a culture of bullying and belittling staff at the organisation. Of the majority of the staff who approached the BBC, most opted to remain anonymous. According to 9 of the 26 employees, the workplace culture at LIVES was “toxic”, 12 said working there caused their mental health to deteriorate, and 3 said they had considered taking their own lives.
The charity was set up 50 years ago in Lincolnshire and sends emergency responders to medical incidents across the county. However, the number of volunteers has dropped, as well as the number of medical emergencies the charity’s Community Emergency Medicine Service (CEMS) attends, with data from the charity’s annual reports showing a fall in the number of volunteer responders from 762 in 2018 to 241 in 2023. The number of CEMS call-outs has also fallen from 202 in January 2022 to 69 in January 2024, according to a Freedom of Information request to East Midlands Ambulance Service.
Several former and current employees believe that the decline in numbers is partly due to high levels of staff sickness, disciplinary suspensions and resignations. Staff reportedly experienced bullying, belittlement, and disciplinary action after whistleblowing about patient safety or raising concerns about management decisions.
The charity denies these allegations and stated that it only refers employees to a regulatory body “where it has reasonable grounds and only after following due process”, adding that in many cases, employees’ mental health issues “predated their employment with LIVES” and “in any cases brought to our attention we have offered the appropriate support”. Despite these claims, a report was published in January by the healthcare regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which found that some LIVES staff had allegedly been shouted at in public areas by senior leaders.
The charity also said that settlement agreements “are a part of everyday life in business, for charities and non-charities alike” and it used NDAs “rarely, properly, lawfully”. Since January, an online petition calling for the charity’s CEO to resign has been supported by 468 people, including former finance officer Andy Bateman. He made an official complaint of bullying that was dismissed by the charity and he later described it as “probably the most caustic place I ever worked
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